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Lawyers for former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) indicated Wednesday before the judge that classified documents found in his Mar-a-Lago mansion were in a secure location.
In a brief filed before the magistrate, the lawyers indicated that it was something “to be expected” that among the presidential documents that Trump took from the White House there was classified material precisely because of the nature of the office he held.
Judge Aileen Cannon summoned Trump’s lawyers and the Justice Department to a hearing in West Palm Beach (Florida) on Thursday to address the demand made by the former president for an independent expert to oversee the case originated by the search conducted by the FBI in his Florida mansion in search of official documents.
Trump has also requested a more detailed receipt of what was seized and the return of what was not included in the warrant that authorized the search.
Judge Cannon has been willing to appoint an expert to supervise the search of Mar-a-Largo, Trump’s mansion and private club in Palm Beach, where he has his legal residence, but before making a decision she will hear the parties.
The hearing at the federal courts in West Palm Beach will take place two days after the Department of Justice (DOJ) informed the judge of the possible commission of a crime of “obstruction” for the handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
According to the DOJ, some of the documents found in an Aug. 8 search were likely concealed and removed from storage.
The more than 50-page document (including attachments) submitted by the DOJ to Judge Cannon on Tuesday night provides a chronology of the handling of the material then seized since Trump left the White House in January 2021.
According to the brief, the storage of those documents is not protected by the figure of Executive Privilege that would apply to him as president, but should have been stored as mandated by law in the National Archives.
